Not many would consider the distant and isolated Extra-Galactic Observatory cushy, but to Vivian it’s a dream come true. Hailing from the low-tech planet of Aurora, she studied for years to work on advanced quantum supercomputers. This is her chance to start a career and leave her past life behind.

Her assignment is simple: a routine upgrade for the station’s supercomputer, quIRK.

Her reception isn’t a friendly one, and she finds that her only friend is quIRK. However, the station’s administrator, Bryce Zimmer is obsessed with quIRK—he suspects that the AI may have achieved sentience, something explicitly prohibited by the ABACUS Protocol.

Bryce’s traumatic and privileged past makes him distrust Vivian from the beginning; his jealousy compels him to set Vivian and quIRK against each other. Deciding that the ends justify the means, his power-hungry sabotage threatens to consume the entire station and send them into the unknown void of intergalactic space.

Vivian must struggle to survive not only Bryce’s megalomania, but also the emerging artificial super intelligence that is quIRK.

The ReviewSanity Vacuum enthralled me from the very first page, where it wastes no time with its fascinating mention of an advanced computer intelligence that conquered planet Earth – the ‘ABACUS’ incident. Thereafter, quantum computers could not be allowed to achieve sentience, thus the ‘ABACUS Protocol.’ The idea of a futuristic global apocalypse brought about by an independent, intelligent computer is the stuff of true Sci-fi, and hooked me utterly into finding out more.

Characterisation in this book is well-executed, with the author immediately aligning the reader in sympathy with main character, Vivian, as she is slandered unfairly as a ‘hick’ in the opening pages. Vivian, hailing from a ‘low-tech’ planet seems sometimes naïve and sweet, which goes nicely with her inner strength and determination, making for a strong female protagonist. We join her on her journey to the Extra-Galactic Observatory, where she is set to upgrade deep-space quantum computer quIRK. Meeting the amenable Alec, the potential for romance sparks. However, Gregory does well to avoid this cliche, allowing them instead to develop a good friendship. Before long, the situation on the Observatory becomes dangerous, soon spiraling out of control when it becomes clear that someone, or something, is trying to stop Vivian at all costs. Bryce, the station’s administrator, doesn’t appreciate Vivian’s presence from the outset, and Vivian must stay alive long enough to discover whether his dislike and distrust could make him murderous, or whether the truth is something entirely more sinister.

It is quIRK, however, who totally steals the show in this book. Ordering kittens off the galactic equivalent of the Internet, declaring his favourite colour ‘antiblue,’ he lives up to his name in the most affectionate way. With his dulcet ‘voice,’ the computer put me in mind of ‘Hal 9000’ from Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series, although quIRK is infinitely more loveable. He’s also a sweet but tragic character, with modest and humble desires – I was moved to tears by his simple wish to see a tree. quIRK is so well written that, despite being a computer, he has found a place as one of my all-time favourite and most memorable characters.

The Sci-fi element of this book is as epic as any episode of Star Trek, with blue-skinned people, stasis space travel, off-world colonisation, singularities, wormholes, and beautifully described distant planets. It’s the works. But never does its subject-specific technicalities make the book difficult to read – with easy-to-grasp explanations, and a conversational style, the book is an enthralling and easy read.

Finally, through the empathic understanding, forgiveness, and unparalleled ethical values of quIRK, the book is also a fascinating look at existentialism, and what it means to be considered a ‘life-form.’ With the snowballing of technology, who’s to know what the far futures computers will really be capable of, and who are we to quantify life and intelligence?

The ending is bittersweet and brilliant, and left me, as all great books do, wishing for more. I have since discovered that the author is working on the sequel, The Pandora Machine, for which I literally cannot wait! In the meantime, quIRK goes on in my imagination, and I think about him out there in the starry sky, on the edge of the galactic arm. How I hope he gets to see that tree …

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